No. 216.] 267 



Journal of the Institute in 1837, I said that the mouldboard, beam 

 and handles, of all the American plows were too short. I had been 

 convinced of this six years before. About 1838, I adopted these 

 alterations. The plow-makers all followed suit. Owing to the im- 

 perfection of the patent laws prior to 1836, I had little encourage- 

 ment to patent my last improvements. One clause in the patent law 

 of 1836, which declared that a patented article must not be on sale 

 at the time of the issue of the patent, and that there must not be 

 more than one year from the date of the improvement before the 

 patent is taken out, deprived me of, my rights to my improvements. 



My large size plough that takes a furrow 7 inches deep by 14 

 wide, turns over 6| inches more at the top edge of the mouldboard 

 than at the bottom. From all that I have discovered in twenty-five 

 years of observation and experimenting, I have not found one straight 

 line that I could recommend on the running part of the plow. Al- 

 though a plow will run well in its perpendicular position, if the land- 

 side is straight, yet it will run better if it be even one eighth of an 

 inch concave towards the land. In no case should it be rounding. 



There are other points that should be kept in view, particularly 

 the line of draft, comprised in the height of the horses' breast, and 

 of the end of the beam and its length. I know plow makers who 

 are unacquainted with this essential principle. When the landside 

 is straight on the bottom from point to heel, *he end of the beam 

 must be one inch or more higher in order to make it enter, partic- 

 ularly in rough or hard land. This inch in the forward end of the 

 beam places it thus much above the line of draught. In drawing 

 the team pulls the beam down causing the plow to run on the point, 

 and causing it to run unsteady, and, as farmers say, to root the 

 ground. The half-inch concave on the bottom will enable the plow 

 maker to fix the beam below the line of draught, which will make 

 the plow run flat, and not rendering it liable to tip up behind when 

 meeting with obstructions. This principle, as simple as it is, gave 

 my plow a decided preference. The proper length of the beam is 

 important and often overlooked. Although smooth, mellow soil re- 

 quires some variation in the plow from that designed for hard and 

 stony land, yet for land in general two or three inches in the beam 

 makes great difference in the running, throwing the end out of the 

 line of draught. The length that I have found as generally best for 

 an half inch concave, is 2 feet 2 inches. I place my plow on a 

 straight place, then measure the perpendicular from the point of the 

 plow to the beam; then from this point 2 feet 2 inches to the end 



